Quick Pizza Base (Wheat-, Dairy-, Egg-, and Yeast Free)

Nom nom, wheat and yeast free pizza... the great thing about home made pizza is the ability to customise your topping!

One of the things I really miss about being able to eat wheat and having more time on my hands is the wonderful taste of pizza. I used to love getting a takeaway pizza every once in a while as a treat, and nowadays the experience is always disappointing given that gluten-free pizzas from major pizza places are absolutely vile.

I did however learn how to make traditional yeast-risen pizza bases using spelt flour, which was pretty easy, but these days I try to avoid yeast as well as not only does it sometimes upset my stomach, giving me a bit of acid reflux, but also baking with yeast is fairly time consuming.

So, I altered a naan bread recipe that I found in an Indian cookery book in my parents' bookshelf to make a very nice and fairly reliable pizza base recipe that uses baking powder instead of yeast.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts
☑ Eggs
☑ Dairy

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten (unless you use gluten-free bread flour)
☒ Refined sugar products


 INGREDIMENTS

For the base:

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) sunflower oil
• ¼ pint (150 millilitres) hand-hot water
• Oil, for rubbing
• Topping of your choice: tomato sauce, grated cheese, slice meats, peppers etc.

HOW-TO 

• Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle over the oil and rub into the flour.
• Mix in the water a bit by bit until you get a nice soft dough that's a little tacky; you may not need to use all the water.
• Sprinkle the work surface with flour and knead the dough a little for about 5 minutes. Brush the mixing bowl with a little oil and put the dough ball in, rolling it around to coat in the oil. Allow to sit and rest for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.6, or hot).
• Once the dough has rested, roll out on a floured work surface to your wanted thickness and shape; I recommend about a quarter inch (5 millimetres). Brush the edges with a little water and roll up into a crust.
• Put gently place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and prick with a fork. Cook for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven an add the topping. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
• Once cooked, allow to cool slightly to avoid burning; cut into slices.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Chewy Caramel